Electro optic modulation of Imbert-Fedorov effect and refractive index detection in magnetized terahertz graphene waveguide

Abstract Imbert-Fedorov (IF) effect means a transverse shift of circularly polarized light perpendicular to the incident plane when refracted from an interface. The physical mechanism of this phenomenon is the coupling between spin angular momentum and orbit angular momentum based on the angular momentum conservation law. We study electro optic (EO) modulation and refractive index detection of graphene waveguide based on IF effect. As the applied voltage affects the permittivity of graphene, EO modulated IF effect can be observed. We mainly focus on the EO modulation of IF effect in the graphene waveguide and give the physical explanations for this phenomenon. Due to the dependence of IF effect on the prism refractive index, we explore the possible application of the graphene waveguide in refractive index detection in which a maximum sensitivity of 1.4 × 104 μm/RIU can be obtained. Meanwhile the detectable refractive index range and its sensitivity can also be controlled by the applied voltage. The EO modulation of IF effect provides us a new physical mechanism to realize EO modulators and refractive index sensors.